


Age Is Just A Number

by chaosphoenix123



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: F/M, How will the guild take this?, age gap
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-20
Updated: 2017-12-31
Packaged: 2019-02-17 09:52:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13074390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chaosphoenix123/pseuds/chaosphoenix123
Summary: You got NaLu, Gruvia, Gajevy, Elfgreen, etc, basically the canon pairings. What about the other older girls like Mira, Lisanna, Cana, and Laki, do they get a chance? If they do, their choices are pretty slim.. What would happen if a 19-year-old Romeo tried dating the girls who were already young adults when he was a kid even though he has already dated Wendy, Chelia, and Beth?





	1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

**Ex-girlfriends and Unexpected Confession**

**Magnolia X797**

He blames his dad for the situation he was in right now. If it wasn't for all the times he had to come and pick him up back in the day from the tavern down the street from Fairy Tail, an19-year-old Romeo Conbolt wouldn't be standing in front of said tavern at two in the morning because his mini-lacrima number was at the top of the barkeeper's contact list.

But he wasn't here for his father cause that would be too easy. No, he was here for one of the other residential drunks of Fairy Tail.

He lowers his head in exhaustion and staggers through the front door. His body still ached from the job he had earlier today alongside Max and Alzack which involve protecting their client from a dark guild attack. As he moves toward the bar he instantly sees his objective, for sitting there in her tight jeans and blue bikini top was the miserable sight of a depress Cana chugging down a pint. If the barkeeper's face was anything to go off of, it wasn't her first and it certainly wouldn't be her last if Romeo didn't intervene.

But there was an old saying in Fairy Tail that only a fool (or an S-Class mage) got between Cana and her beer, and Romeo sure as hell wasn't a S-Class yet, though the exam was coming up, this year might be his year, so maybe he was a fool.

"Give me another round, damn it!", The Card Mage roared as she slam the mug on the counter, "I'm going to drink until I forget the fact that I got dump AGAIN!"

" _So the rumors are true",_  Romeo thought as he steps silently behind her though at this point he could stomp all over the place and she still wouldn't notice him. He sits down in the stool next to her and takes a good look at her. The scowl on her face remind the Rainbow Fire mage of Guild Master Laxus back in the day but Romeo could clearly see the tears streaming down her face.

"Cana", Romeo says catching her attention and causing her to snap her head at him and almost instantly her expression changes from anger to irritation.

"Ah crap, what's the baby boy doing here?", she whines loudly, "Daddy finally let you out pass your bedtime?"

The insult simply bounces off Romeo who kept a neutral look on his face. He gotten used to these types of comments over the years. Despite the fact that there are now younger people than him at the guild, he is still refer to as one of the "baby" of Fairy Tail alongside Asuka, mostly because they grew up in the guild from birth. It would seem that a lot of the newer, older, members resented this, thinking that Romeo and Asuka got special treatment from the guild veterans and especially Laxus.

"You do realize that I have been having my own apartment for the past two years right?", Romeo ask.

"Probably have your mom come and clean it for you, don't cha?", Cana grumble.

"Nope, she and dad are too busy taking care of Juliet", Romeo points out. It was some time after the war with the Alvarez empire that Macao realize that he had to man up and change things around if he wanted to get back with Enno. So he tracked her down to her place in Crocus and went to go see her. Romeo doesn't know the details (he was smart enough not to ask) but a few months later his mom came back to Magnolia and back into his life.

It was awkward at first because Romeo has gotten used to the fact that it was just him and his dad at the house and now his mother was there too. Half a year later Romeo is standing alongside the rest of the guild at the cathedral as his father and mother renew their vows and got remarried. Almost a year after that and Romeo is welcoming his new baby sister, Juliet Conbolt, into the world.

He loves Juliet as much as any brother could, but he also realize that his parents probably didn't have enough room in their lives (or in the house) for two kids so he made the choice to move out into an apartment once he turned seventeen. Both Macao and Enno try to convince him otherwise that he didn't have to do this but his mind was already made up by that point.

Anyway, back to the matter at hand with Cana.

"What happen now?", he asked only to see her face contort into seething rage.

"HE DUMP ME! THAT SON OF A BITCH DUMP ME!", she scream as she slapped her mug on the table, this time shattering the glass, "SAID THAT I'M TOO OLD TO BE ACTING THE WAY I DO!"

"You're thirty-one", Romeo states.

"I'm twenty-four!" Cana argue.

"Yeah, funny thing about your age", Romeo chuckles, "It doesn't stop just because you were frozen in time for seven years."

"Bite me!" Cana tells him while flipping him the bird, "I still look as good as the day I left for Tenrou all those years ago."

Romeo's eyes scanned over Cana's body and he quickly came to the same conclusion. Cana's body was the stuff of fantasies.

" _Those jobs she's been taking have definitely kept her in shape",_ Romeo thought as he tune back in to Cana's rant.

"First Laxus dump me!" Cana rage at the ceiling.

"He was taking on the title of Guild Master", Romeo reminds her, "He felt that if he kept you as a girlfriend, every decision involving you would be seen as favoritism."

"Then Baccus dump me!", she continue on.

"That's because you finally drunk him under the table. You hurt the man's pride and with the guild he belongs to, that means a lot", Romeo says.

"And now Daniel dump me!"

"I honestly don't know what to say about that", Romeo shrugged, "I didn't know the guy all that well. All I know that it was your first attempt dating a non-mage."

Cana snaps her head at the Rainbow Fire mage and narrows her eyes in a glare.

"You seem awfully happy over the fact that I got dump", Cana notice.

"I do find your reaction to it funny", Romeo smirked.

"You have no room to talk!", Cana screams as she stands up and shoves a finger in Romeo's face, "Far as I know, you been dump-" Cana started counting on her fingers and recalling past memories, " Four times!"

"Dump isn't the word I would use, but yes, I as of now have four ex-girlfriends", Romeo told her, "All them just so happen to be from different guilds."

"First there was Wendy", Cana put a finger up, "No one was surprise by that and Mira nearly had a heart attack."

"Good times, we started off as a team after the Alvarez war, doing jobs and whatnot. Sometime later I ask her out and things went from there for about a year" Romeo recalled.

"Yeah, the day everyone found out you broke up was the day Mira almost flooded the guild with her tears, almost putting Juvia to shame." Cana asks while sitting back down, "So what the hell happen?"

"Things started getting awkward for us. One day Wendy told me that it was getting harder and harder to see me as someone other than the six-year old boy she left behind when she departed for Tenrou. Add in the fact that she was basically over four hundred years old and you pretty much get the gist of the problem she was dealing with.", Romeo confessed, "We broke it off cause we felt that eventually this would affect our relationship as guild members and our teamwork."

"Must have been tough", Cana commented.

"It was at first but we ended on good terms and even to this day we still occasionally do jobs together, just the two of us", Romeo admitted, "She even helps me babysit Juliet when my parents go out."

"Okay, then what about-" Cana started to talk before Romeo held a hand up.

"As must as I love talking about my past love life, can we continue this conversation while I take you home? I would like to get some sleep tonight."

Cana thinks on it for a moment before deciding, "Fine, but only on the condition that we go over all of your ex-girlfriends."

"Fine, I got nothing to hide", Romeo agreed, "If it gets me into my bed sooner rather than later."

"Let's go then", as Cana reaches into her card pouch and pull out some jewels.

"This is for all the trouble I caused", she says to the barkeeper before putting them on the counter and grabbing Romeo by the arm.

"You don't have to drag me!", Romeo yells as he pulled out his stool and toward the door.

"Yeah whatever", Cana says as the two of them leave the warm bar and enter the cold Magnolia's night.

"It's freezing out here!", Cana complains before she suddenly see Romeo's hand light up in flames.

"You should really consider wearing more clothes around this time of year", Romeo says as Cana moves closer to him.

"I'll think about it", Cana said as she warm her hands, "Now tell me about Wakaba's girl. What happen there?"

"Lindsay?", Romeo said as the two starting walking, "That was something else. She came to me like two months after I broke up with Wendy. She kicked open my bedroom door and damn near ordered me to be her date for some dance that Twilight Ogre was holding."

"She needed a date for a guild dance?", Cana questioned.

"I wondered the same thing. She said that everyone else was bringing a date and she didn't want to feel left out, said that all the decent guys at her guild were already taken", Romeo said.

"And you believe that?" Cana says as she raises an eyebrow, "You actually fell for that?"

"Why wouldn't I? We've known each since before we could walk or talk", Romeo answered, "So I was caught completely off-guard when she kissed me out of nowhere while we were slow-dancing, and then she confessed to me, right then and there while I was still recovering from shock."

"That must have been a sight to see" Cana said.

"She had a crush on me since we were eleven years old", Romeo kept going, "And I never notice."

"Most guys don't", Cana added.

"For a brief moment I thought to myself that this must have been how Natsu and Gajeel felt when Lucy and Levy confessed to them", Romeo admitted, "Like I should have pay more attention to all the things she said and did over the years then maybe things would have turn out differently."

"Would things have turned out different?", Cana asks as the two pass over a bridge, "If you would have known sooner, you think you two would still be together?"

Romeo ponders the thought for a moment before shaking his head, "Nah, we would have still broken up. Sure, we dated for a year, but the one of the problems with dating your childhood friend is that in the deepest confides of your mind, you still see them as just a friend. It took us than half a year to fully transition from being friends to being boyfriend and girlfriend and even afterwards thing were still awkward between us."

"Awkward how?", Cana wondered.

"We live right next door to one another; have ever since we were babies. Our parents knew one another and therefore they knew us", Romeo started to explain, "There were no secrets between us because we knew everything about one another. Public displays such as holding hands and kissing were awkward, going to social events as a couple were even more awkward, pretty much everything was uncomfortable for us."

"So basically nothing change between you two?"

Romeo couldn't help but smirked, "There were some changes."

Cana punches him in his shoulder.

"Hey!", Romeo said as he rubbed his the spot where the hit connected, "It's not my fault she kept the window open more often when she was getting change and it's not my fault my window is right across from her."

"You're your father's son", Cana laughed before wondering, "Hey, everyone knows you and Wendy never went that far into your relationship because ya'll were too young, but what about you and Lindsay, if you don't mind me asking?"

A sad smile appears on Romeo's face as he stop walking and looked up at the night sky, "The night we decided that we were going to take the next step in our relationship was the same night we broke up. We were in my room that night. Both our parents were out of town visiting relatives so that just left me and her home by ourselves."

Cana, surprisingly decided not to make a joke.

"We were both just laying there on my bed, looking at one another without a shred of clothing on. We were both just waiting for the other one to make the first move and we laid like that for two hours before I got up and started putting my clothes back on", Romeo said.

"What did Lindsay do at that point?", Cana asks.

"She got up and did the same thing. Then she gave me one last kiss and went home", Romeo replied, "The next day we were back to being just friends again, almost as if the last year never happen."

"Just like that?", Cana asks.

"Just like that", Romeo repeated, "We both knew that if we would have taken that final step that night, we could never go back to being friends again, never go back to being what we were before we started dating."

"I'm actually sorry to hear that", Cana confessed.

"Don't be", Romeo told her as he started walking again, "I may have lost my girlfriend that night, but at least I got to keep my best friend."

"Your third girlfriend caught everyone by surprise," Cana said, wanting to change the subject as quickly as possible, "Chelia Blendy of all people."

"I'm not surprise by that", Romeo admitted while chuckling a little, "She surprised me when she asks me to go out on a job with her."

"Going undercover as a young couple at a hotel resort in order to capture a wanted dark mage", Cana recalled.

"She wanted someone who wouldn't be all goo-goo gaga over her and I was really the only choice for her who was around her age", Romeo said, "Surprisingly it was Wendy who suggested me to her, say she wanted someone who she knew would have Chelia back seeing how she just got her magic back after not being able to use it for a few years."

"And just like a cheesy romance movie, you fell for her and she fell for you", Cana pointed out, "You two danced together, laugh together, even went out for a midnight swim together. You slowly wormed your way into her heart."

"Yeah and she wormed her way into mine. Granted me and Lindsay ended our dating relationship three months prior and Lyon married Meredy a year beforehand, so I guess both of us were still recovering from broken hearts, her more than me", Romeo said.

"But that kiss you and her shared after the climax battle with not one dark guild mage, but his entire guild as well, was on the front page of every newspaper in Fiore", Cana said, "You can't tell me that you didn't enjoy that."

"Oh trust me, I enjoyed it", Romeo smiled, "Chelia was a great kisser. And just like Wendy and Lindsay, we dated for a year before finally breaking it off."

"Seems to be a thing with you and having a girlfriend for a year", Cana noticed, "Think you might be curse?"

"Maybe", Romeo shrugged, "I have fought mages who were proficient in curse magic before."

"Moving on pass that, why did you guys break up? Cana asked.

"Something happen that I really should have saw coming. She still was hung up on Lyon, whether she knew it or not", Romeo said.

"You do realize I can't read minds like Warren, right? Please elaborate."

"I guess is the best way I can explain is that subconsciously she still hadn't gotten over Lyon yet, even though the two of them never dated ", Romeo explained, "It started off small, with her making tiny remarks about Lyon here and there, and then it got to the point where she was comparing me to him and trust me it was never in a positive light."

"Well that sucks", Cana said, "Why did you stay with her for so long then if she was doing that?"

"I guess after things didn't go well with Wendy and Lindsay, I wanted to try and make that one. So I endure it", Romeo answered, "But it turned out to do me more harm than good."

"How so?"

"It hurt my self-esteem for a good while, mostly because it was no different than all the times I was being compare to Natsu", Romeo said his voice getting a little quieter as he talked, "Anyway we both sat down and talked about it and decided that it was best that we go back to being just friends, or whatever we were beforehand."

Romeo looks back up at the sky while trying to remember something, "Which was a good thing because when we were dating things were awkward around Wendy, seeing how she was Chelia's best friend and my ex-girlfriend. And with the whole blow to my self-esteem I don't talk to her as much as I do Lindsay and Wendy."

"Make sense, I guess", Cana commented while looking down the street and seeing that they were nearing her place.

"Well, it seems that this night adventure is almost at a end, but before we part our separate ways, why don't you tell me about your fourth and final ex-girlfriend, Beth Vanderwood of Mermaid Heel?", Cana asked in a mock noble voice, "I never expected you to date a girl like that."

"You and me both, a city boy like me getting with a country girl like her", Romeo confessed, "I don't think even Carla could have predicted that."

"How did you two hook up?"

"Erza and her friend, Millianna, set us up on a blind date. I was down in the dumps after Chelia, so Erza tried to cheer me up. For Beth, the girls at her guild were trying to break her in to the dating game with someone who they knew would treat her right", Romeo answered, "And I guess the girls in our guild alliance talks amongst themselves."

"That we do", Cana added.

"So anyway, they set us up on a date at some fancy restaurant in Crocus during that year Grand Magic Games; you know the one that somehow ended in a six-way tie between our alliance", Romeo continued on.

"Oh yeah, that was weird", Cana recalled.

"Yeah it was, so anyway the date was as unorthodox as it could be as I noticed that Beth wasn't really all that comfortable dressing up in fancy clothes and wearing make-up, even though to this day I still think she looked amazing", Romeo said as they pulled up to Cana's front door, "Anyway we left the restaurant and decided to go to the amusement park instead. We both had a wonderful time and we started dating from there."

"So for the fourth and final time, how did things go wrong?", Cana asked.

"She was simply too much for me", Romeo admitted.

"Say what?"

"She was the only one I ever took the next step with and it turn out that she liked being the dominant one in bed and eventually in the rest of our relationship", Romeo confessed, "She went from the sweet, polite girl that everyone knew to a overbearing, paranoid girl. At one point she thought I was cheating on her due to the fact that I still went out on jobs with Wendy or the fact that I still hung out with Lindsay."

"Oh did that hurt your male's pride?", Cana teased causing Romeo a tick mark to appear on his forehead.

"Seeing how the relationship I had with Chelia deeply scarred my self-esteem, yeah it did!", Romeo snapped catching Cana by surprise, "Believe or not, I'm all for equality in a relationship. With Wendy, Lindsay, and Chelia we each had one leg in the pants in our relationship, but with Beth she wanted to be in control and after a year I couldn't take it anymore. Deep down I knew it wasn't her fault; she never been in a relationship before so she didn't think her behavior was wrong. So that's why I let her down gently."

Romeo for the third time tonight looked up at the sky while talking, "I told her that she comes on too strong and while that might work at Mermaid Heel, it doesn't always work out in a relationship. Surprisingly, she confessed she knew what she was doing and was only doing it because she didn't know how to act in those types of situations. Apparently, her fellow guild members, especially Kagura, were constantly telling her that she had to wear the pants in our relationship and she took their advice too seriously."

"But you still broke up with her", Cana said.

"Only after I told her that she need to start thinking for herself", Romeo explained, "I also told her that it was partially my fault because I was still trying to get over Chelia and the blows she dealt to my ego and I probably shouldn't have gotten back into the dating game so soon after breaking up with her."

"So how are things with you and Beth now?"

"We occasionally talk", Romeo replied, "She's taking some time off from dating and is focusing more on improving her magic so she can help her guild out."

"These past few years have been rough on you, Romeo", Cana said after the two stood in silence for a moment, "Breaking off four relationships within the span of four years, including one with the girl you developed your first crush on."

"Yeah it has been tough for me", Romeo agreed, "Seeing how-wait what?"

Romeo turns to stare at Cana with a baffle look on his face.

"What?"

"What did you just say?", Romeo asked, "Just now."

"About how you had a rough four years?", Cana said.

"No, after that", Romeo says.

"About you breaking off four relationships?"

"Keep going", Romeo says.

"You mean how you got dumped by your first crush?", Cana asks.

"Yeah that one", Romeo said, "What do you mean by that?"

"You got dumped by Wendy, your first crush", Cana said, wondering why she has to explain this to him.

"Wendy wasn't my first crush", Romeo said.

"Really? Everyone thought for sure you had a thing for her when she got back from Tenrou especially Mira."

"I don't know why, I didn't develop romantic feelings for Wendy until after we started going out on jobs together", Romeo told her.

"Okay, then was Lindsay your first crush?", Cana asked.

"No."

"Chelia?"

"Still no."

"So Beth?"

"I only said that she looked amazing on our blind date, but I never really talked to her that much beforehand, so no", Romeo said.

"Then who was your first crush?", Cana asks, now curious to know.

"It was-", Romeo started to say before shutting his mouth and Cana noticed that his face was turning bright red.

"Never mind!", Romeo said as he turned around and starting walking away, "You have a good night, Cana!"

Suddenly he feels a hand grab him and pull him back. He turns around to see Cana latched onto his arm with a devious smile on her face, "Oh no you don't!"

"Let go!"

"Oh no, not until you tell me who your first crush was on!'", Cana demanded.

"It's none of your business!", Romeo roared and tried to pull away but the Card Mage was latched on tight and Romeo was soon dragging her along the road.

"Let me guess, it was Mira! It's always Mira for most of the guys in the guild!", Cana said.

"Let go Cana! And no, you think I want to get stab to death by Freed?"

"Or was it Lucy?", Cana continued on, "She always did flaw her stuff!"

"This is getting old, Cana!", Romeo yelled again, his patience nearing its end, "And Natsu would burn me alive if he found that out! You know how overprotective he is of her nowadays!"

"Or maybe it was Kinana! Everyone knows you two have a brother/sister type of relationship with one another!", Cana pressed on.

"That's enough Cana!", Romeo screamed, "And I rather not have to check my meals for poison!"

"Was it Levy, you like those bookworm girls?"

"Gajeel would break my legs, so no!"

"Evergreen, her bitchy attitude excited you?"

"No! I do not want to get pummel to death by a beast arm!"

"Is it Lisanna and her catgirl transformation?"

"I like my soul inside my own body, thank you very much! By the way you can let go of me anytime now!"

"Juvia and the way she refers to herself in third person?"

"I don't want my nuts frozen off, so hell no!", Romeo said while still dragging Cana.

"Or maybe it was Bisca in all her sexy milfness!"

"That is just wrong on so many levels that I don't even know where to begin! She used to babysit me and I rather not be used for target practice by Alzack!"

"I know, it was Laki because you had a thing for girls in glasses!"

"Do I look like a masochist to you?"

"Wait, wait! It's Erza because you have a fetish for chicks in armor!"

"Yeah, cause I so want a highly powerful, ex-criminal on my ass! Are you ever going to let go?", Romeo roared, now feeling like he was about to snap.

"No! If it wasn't none of them, then maybe it's the girls from-" she started to say before finally…

"IT WAS YOU!", Romeo's voice echo across a quiet Magnolia, "YOU WERE MY FIRST CRUSH!"

...

...

...

Cana and Romeo both stand there in silence for what seem like a eternity, with Romeo unable to make eye contact with her. Cana's shocked expression conveys all the emotions she was feeling right at that moment after Romeo's starling confession. She was frozen solid; all she could do was stand there and blink.

"What?", she said softly in a voice that was barely above a whisper.

Romeo removed his arm from Cana now relaxed gripe and after five more minutes of continue silence the Rainbow Fire Mage brings his head to look Cana in her eyes.

"I should probably be going", he said in a quiet voice.

Cana slowly came out of her daze and turns her full attention to Romeo, "How long?"

"Excuse me?"

"How long have you had this so-call crush on me?", Cana ask again.

"It started a short while after you got back from Tenrou", Romeo confessed.

"And when did it stop?"

"After you started dating Laxus."

"I started dating Laxus around the same time you formed a team with Wendy", Cana pointed out, "That was over two years after I got back."

"What was I suppose to do? Tell you to your face?" Romeo said as he adopted a cheerful personality, "Hey Cana, having fun chugging there? By the way, I have the biggest crush on you."

Cana actually snorted at this, "Okay that would have been weird."

"You see", Romeo smiled.

"So out of all the girls in your life at the time, it was me you were the most attracted to? What brought this about?", Cana had to know because even she knew that she wasn't the best role model around.

Romeo had to think on the answer for a moment before speaking, "You were different."

"Understatement of the century", Cana joked.

"No, I mean you never try to change yourself over other people. Not for Laxus, Baccus, or that Daniel guy. I mean Juvia tone down her stalking habits once she and Gray got marry. Evergreen stop being so bitchy once she and Elfman started a family; and to everyone's surprise even Gajeel and Natsu tone back their destructive behavior once they were married."

"You're saying it like it's a bad thing that everyone's negative traits went away upon them getting with someone", Cana commented.

"Oh no, the guild's a little better off with them being more calm, though I do miss the occasional brawl sometimes", Romeo admitted.

"But back to me", Cana said.

"Yeah like I said you never changed", Romeo continued on, "You're loud, a party animal, and you couldn't care less of what other people think of you."

"I'm not exactly the girl you want to bring home to mommy", Cana chuckled.

"But you're the type of girl who not afraid to show her true self", Romeo added.

"You're damn right about that!", Cana proudly boasted, "Ain't a man alive who can tame me! If Laxus and Baccus couldn't do it, then no one can!"

"Sounds like a challenge", Romeo smiled causing Cana to give him a look.

'Whoa there cowboy, I may not be a "proper" girl but even I don't go out looking for a new boyfriend the same day I got dump by my old one."

The two shared a laugh at that statement, the awkward tension between them from Romeo's confession completely vanished.

"Don't worry, I'm not ready to get back in the dating game just yet", Romeo told her, "Might take a while before that happens."

"So there's no awkwardness between us? We're still good friends?", Cana asks.

"Of course, I merely told you that I used to have a crush on you; I didn't confess my undying love for you", Romeo stated, "Tomorrow, we'll share a laugh about this at the guild. In fact, I'll pay for your drinks."

"I'll hold you to that and you better bring a lot of jewels!", Cana smiled as she walked back to her place, "Catch you tomorrow, Romeo!"

"See ya!", Romeo called back as he watched her walk away, his eyes never leaving her retreating figure, not even for a second. It was only after she closed the door behind her that he realizes what he was doing and took off down the road.

"Wow, Laxus and the rest of those guys were idiots to dump her", Romeo said as he turn around and started walking, "A free-spirited girl like her is hard to come by nowadays."

He stares up at the moon as he strolled down the street, his mind a jumble mess.

"It would have never worked out between us anyway. A girl like her doesn't need a nice guy like me", Romeo told himself, "But it's nice to wonder sometimes. Besides..."

Unbeknownst to the Rainbow Fire mage, Cana was watching him leave through her downstairs window…

"He certainly has grown over the years, hasn't he?", she said to herself as she smile, "Those girls have no idea what they gave up."

Her smile fades away as Romeo rounds a corner and disappears from her sight.

"Get your head out of the clouds, Cana. He only said that he used to have a crush on me, nothing more.", she told herself as she looks skyward at the moon, "Romeo needs a nice girl in his life anyway, not someone like me. Besides..."

 _"_ _I'm probably way too old/ too young for him/her_ ", they both thought at the same time.

That night silently went by without any more incidents, but for those two mages the next morning would bring a whole new slew of problems and unexpected emotions.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**Dreams**

The sound of running water awoke Romeo from his slumber.

" _I'm not expecting anyone over today",_ the young mage told himself as he slowly sat up in his bed. Then he noticed that the door was suddenly opening and he quickly summons a fireball in his hand.

The door suddenly flies open and the fireball puckers out as his jaw drops in surprise.

"We're out of toothpaste", Cana told him as she told in the doorway of his bedroom with a tired look on her face while scratching her head and wearing nothing more than a pair of lacy white panties and one of his open full body vest, her breasts barely covered by the fabric.

Romeo's eye wander up and down the flawless skin of the Card mage, taking in every curve of her body as she stood there with baffle look on her face.

"Did you hear me?", she asked, snapping Romeo out of his daze, "I said we're out of toothpaste."

"W-what are you doing in my apartment?", Romeo asks as soon as he gathered his wits, "And why are you wearing one of my vest?"

"Huh? I'm living here while my place is getting rebuild after that dark guild attack, remember? And I got nothing else to wear until my laundry is done.", Cana answers while walking toward him.

Romeo turns his eyes to the ceiling in a effort not to get caught staring at the way his vest on her would open up, revealing her ample chest, "Since when? Exactly how long have we been dating.

"Dating? Romeo, honey, we're engage", Cana says, "The wedding's in a year."

"What?!", Romeo screams, scaring Cana and causing her to jump back, "How long have this been going on?!"

"Are you feeling okay? I told you not to try Levy's cooking last night, but you didn't want to listen, now look at you. Am I going to have to call Wendy and Chelia over to take a look at you?", Cana said as she resumed her walk toward Romeo who was still recovering from the shock.

"How-how long have we been going out, counting the...engagement?", Romeo asks once more.

"For little over a year now", Cana says as she began to crawl on the bed toward him with a husky smile on her face , "When you propose to me last month, remember? Oh we celebrate all...night...long. Hell, we even tie our old record of nine rounds."

Romeo smack himself across the face in order to keep certain images from pouring into his head and distracting him from the issue at hand, unfortunately with said issue being in front of him on all four while the clothes she was wearing were leaving little to the imagination, that was next to impossible.

He had to get his head on straight. For all he knew he was trapped in a highly elaborate and detail illusion spell and if he learned anything from his years of fighting dark mages who specializes in this of magic is that it's best that you go along with the illusion until you see an opening or find the source that is creating it.

"Let me see if I got this straight", Romeo tried to rationalize as he closes his eyes, "We're engaged and due to be married in a year."

"Correct", Cana answered.

"And just out of curiosity, how did my family take this?"

To Romeo's surprise, Cana looked away with a somewhat embarrass look on her face.

"Well, they're kinda the reason why our wedding is taking so long to happen", Cana answers sheepishly while scratching the back of her head.

"What's that suppose to mean?", Romeo asks.

"You don't remember? When we announce our engagement to the guild, your dad nearly had a heart attack and the less you recall about your mother's reaction, the better. Juliet was happy though with the thought of me becoming her sister."

"But how are they now?"

Cana takes in a sharp breath of air, "They haven't spoken with either one of us in about a month. Every time I see your mom at the guild she calls me "Cradle robbing harpy who's trying to steal her baby boy away from her", like she has room to talk though. I been around you longer than she has."

"And my dad?", Romeo asks hoping to move past the fact that Cana had a point about his mother not being around a lot in his life.

"He flat out ignores me", Cana confessed, "Plus certain people at the guild don't exactly approve of our relationship."

"Who?"

"Let's not go into that", Cana says, " "But Juliet calls me "big sis" whenever she talks to me, so that's a plus!"

Romeo braces himself for the next question he knew he had to ask, "How did your father take it?"

"Oh dare, would you look at the time! It's time for me to be somewhere else!", Cana said as she started to get up only to be stop by Romeo grabbing her hand.

"Cana", Romeo says, "What did he say?"

"Promise you won't get mad", Cana pleaded.

" _What's that suppose to mean?",_ Romeo thought as his supposed "fiance" spoke.

"I haven't exactly told him yet."

"This is getting better and better."

"Well the girls and I have been talking and we all agree that in order for us to have a happy marriage it would probably be best if you were actually alive on the day of the wedding", Cana admitted.

"So let's say Gildarts just shows up out of the blue one day and visits the guild hall. How exactly are you going to explain the name change and the fact that you're living together with me?"

"I'll come up with something."

"Oh sweet Mavis", Romeo says as he rubs his temples.

"Are you sure you're okay?", Cana asks as she puts her forehead onto his, "You don't seem to have a fever but you're definitely acting strange for some reason."

"Oh I have a pretty good idea what the reason is", Romeo mutters to himself before stiffen up upon seeing a predatory smile slowly form on Cana's lips.

"Well if that the case then I know the perfect remedy for whatever ails you."

"You're going to call Wendy and Chelia over to take a look at me?", Romeo asks only to open his eyes and drop his jaw in shock was Cana stood up on his bed and in a blink of a eye tears off her panties while simultaneously throwing off the vest she was wearing.

"Nope, though it does sound a little kinky now that I stop and think about. I'm going to have to put that down on my bucket list: you, me, Wendy, and Chelia, in a hot foursome", Cana admitted, " Anyway, we're going to see if today is the day we break our record of nine rounds, now come to mama!", She answers as she jumps into the air and literally pounces onto Romeo.

_**RIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGG!** _

Romeo's eyes shot open as the sound of his alarm echoes throughout his room. A second later he shoots up out of his bed and looks around his small apartment.

"Oh sweet Mavis", he says as he runs a hand down his face, "Was it all just a dream? It was so real and surprisingly accurate for some reason."

Romeo looks outside and sees the sun barely peeking over the horizon, signaling the start of another day. As he crawls out of bed and begin getting ready for the new day he could only pray that the dream didn't mean anything.

_**Cana's House** _

The smell of bacon fills her nostrils and alarm her to the presence of someone else in her place. On instinct due to having a number of dark mages attack her in her home over the years, she quickly pulls her cards out from underneath her pillow and charges them with her magic. She slowly and quietly slips out of her bed, careful not to step on any of the many empty bottles that lay sprawl out across her floor and made her way to the door. As she slowly open it the smell of bacon intensify and carried with the smell of eggs and toast.

" _What kind of sick fuck cooks breakfast inside of the house they just broke into?",_ Cana asks herself while trying to ignore the fact that whoever was cooking in her kitchen was damn good at it. She hoped that whoever was in her home couldn't hear her stomach growling as she moved down the hallway. She peaks around the corner and spots the shadow of a figure inside of her kitchen and ready her cards. Her ears pick up the faint sound of...

" _Whistling?",_ Cana thought, " _This guy breaks into my house, starts cooking breakfast, and has the balls to whistle while doing so? I am so going to enjoy electrocuting his ass."_

She readies herself for the likely confrontation while mentally checking to make sure she had the money to pay for the damage to her house that she was no doubt about to cause, even though deep down she wished she would have just coughed up the money and brought house insurance, especially at this point in her magic career.

"Alright, buddy!", she screams as she just out from around the corner, cards glowing brightly, "Time to get your-oh my Mavis, Romeo, what are you wearing?!"

For standing there in front of Cana's stove (which was rarely used by her) was the young Rainbow Fire Mage of Fairy Tail wearing an apron.

And nothing but an apron.

Did Cana mention that Romeo was standing practically naked in her kitchen with nothing more than an apron to cover himself?

He was wearing a hot pink naked apron, like the kind a newly married wife wear to surprise her husband who just got in from a long day at work.

Anyway back to the fact that the "baby boy" of Fairy Tail was standing in Cana's kitchen wearing nothing more than a naked apron.

In case you still haven't gotten the message yet: Romeo, Cana's kitchen, naked apron. Moving on.

Romeo glances behind him while finishing up the scramble eggs he was working on and smiles, "Oh, you're up finally. Guess I really did a number on you last night. How long did we go for this time, nine rounds was it?"

When he didn't get a reply he turns his head around to look straight at Cana who was standing there with her mouth agape and her eyes wide as dinner plates.

Romeo lifts an eyebrow in confuse, "What are you staring at? It's nothing you haven't seen before every night since the wedding."

It was the word "wedding" that shook Cana out of her one-sided staring contest with Romeo's perfectly shape buttocks, "W-wedding?"

Romeo lifts the other eyebrow at this point and directs a finger toward the picture hanging on the far side of the kitchen wall.

There in the center of the photo, surrounded by the entire Fairy Tail guild and their friends, was a smiling Cana being held up in the arms of an equally happy Romeo while one of her arms was around his neck and the other held the bouquet. He was wearing a bright sky blue tux while she was deck out in a flowing white wedding gown that revealed a little more cleavage than the average wedding dress. At the bottom of the picture the words: " _ **THE NEWLY MARRIED MR. ROMEO CONBOLT AND MRS. CANA CONBOLT",**_ were embroil.

Cana did the only logical thing she could think of at the moment.

She bolts for the refrigerator on the other side of the room a tear the door off the hinge, hurling it behind her without looking back. As it flies toward Romeo he merely leans inward a little and it misses him completely, but left a giant dent in the kitchen wall.

"There goes another S-Class job I got to take to pay for that", Romeo mutters to himself.

But anyway back to Cana who has just pulled out a highly alcoholic, highly expense bottle of alcohol.

"Ain't it a little early even for you to be drinking?", Romeo asks, but he is ignore by Cana who starts downing the bottle with reckless abandonment. If there was one thing she learned throughout her years of fighting dark mages who were proficient in illusion magic is that the spell starts to break down if you did something that jumble up your brain cells and drinking this special brand of extremely potent alcohol imported from the country of Sin was sure to do the trick.

Besides, there was no way she would be married to Romeo in real life, so she had to be in an illusion, right?

"Um, Cana?", Romeo asks only for the Card Mage to hold a finger up to silence him as she continued drinking. Finally, after a good two minutes has passed, (It was a large bottle), Cana finally comes up for air and looks around.

"Sooooo... we're still married?", Cana asks while wondering why the trick didn't work.

"Yeeeeaaaahhhhhh…. for like the past four months", Romeo says as he finally turns around, revealing that his apron had wording on it.

"Kiss the co-" Cana started to read before stopping midway through the final word, "That isn't how you spell cook."

Romeo actually laughs at this, "Funny, I said that same thing when you gave to me as a birthday gift, but to be fair, yours says "Lick the cu-"

"I don't need to hear the rest of that sentence", Cana stops him.

"You're the one that bought them, while you were babysitting Juliet of all things", Romeo said before walking toward her with a hot pan of bacon and eggs in his hand, "What's wrong with you this morning?"

"I honestly have no clue", Cana told him as she took a seat at the table and put her face in her head, "I wake up one day and find myself married to you."

"Ouch, that's a little harsh", Romeo chuckle, "Especially seeing how you were the one that told me to hurry up and grow some balls, and propose to you because you were getting tired of waiting."

"I'm sorry, what?", Cana asks as she sits straight up, "I told you to what?"

"You told me to propose to you cause apparently you found the ring I brought in one of my dresser drawers and you ask me why was I taking so long?" Romeo answered.

" _This is a_ _n_ _extremely detail illusion",_ Cana thought, "So refresh my memory, why were you taking so long?"

"Well, it wasn't like my parents and your dad approve of us dating?", Romeo told her, "In fact, some of the guild was against it as well if you recall."

"Who?"

"I rather not remember that part if you don't mind", Romeo said, "But the good news is that I finally pay off the hospital bill!"

"Hospital bill for what?", Cana wondered.

"For the time I spend there after you father got a hold of me", Romeo casually answers.

"What?!"

"To be fair, the guys were able to stop him before he did any serious damage", Romeo pointed out, "Only seventy percent of my bones were broken and Wendy and Chelia were able to heal my internal bleeding before we arrived at the hospital."

"Why didn't they heal you at the guild hall?", Cana asks.

"The guys were still trying to subdue Gildarts, remember? So the girls made an executive decision and decided that it be best if I was moved somewhere else", Romeo admitted, " Master Laxus, Erza, and Mira couldn't argue with it at the time cause they were in the middle of a death battle with your father."

" _That sounds surprisingly accurate",_ Cana thought.

"But it's a good thing we got insurance a week before he showed up in Magnolia", Romeo joked, "Laxus basically orders us to as a precaution and he even got the guild hall some as well, so basically the damages were covered and it's a good thing it was because half the building was destroyed by the time you were able to calm Gildarts down."

"I think a migraine starting to form now", Cana said as she rubs her temple only to suddenly feel a hand on her forehead. She fought down the heat that was no doubt trying to show on her face as she opens her eyes to see that Romeo had one hand on her forehead while the other was on his own.

"Well you don't seem to be running a fever", Romeo deduces before a smirk forms on his lips, "You're probably just still recovering from last night."

" _Wow, whoever made this illusion made Romeo ballsy as hell",_ Cana thought as she tries once again a way to break the illusion, "Mr. Confident I see."

"I guess you rub off on me", he said as he stood up and began to undo the apron from behind.

"W-what are you doing?", Cana screamed.

"What? I'm up, you're up, we don't have to be at the guild today", Romeo answered as he took the apron off, leaving a shock Cana in his wake by doing so, " So I figure we see if we can be our all-time high of a straight nine rounds right here on the kitchen floor."

" _He's huge!",_ Cana thought before Romeo's last words register in her mind, "The kitchen floor?!"

"I clean it earlier this morning", Romeo said, " Unless you prefer the kitchen table, but the last few times we did that it broke and Laki is starting to get sick and tired of coming over to fix it. She says if she's going to come over here to fix the table she wants in on the fun next time and Max would be joining her. "

Cana could only blink at that statement.

"Or do you want a more public venue this time around? Mira out on a job today so we could do it in the storeroom if you want", Romeo suggested.

"What? No!"

"Okay, kitchen floor it is then", Romeo says as he yanks her out of the chair into his arms, "Now give daddy some loving."

_**RRRRRIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGG** _

On instinct Cana swats the alarm clock across the room and hears it shatters against her bedroom wall. She shots straight up in her bed, her eyes bloodshot with the lack of sleep and whiskey she drunk a few hours earlier. As she surveys her room and notices the amount of empty bottles on the floor only one thought comes to mind…

" _I have got to stop drinking before bed,_ _that dream was waaaayyyyy too real. Hope it doesn't mean anything."_

**Fairy Tail Guild Hall**

Both Romeo and Cana were dragging their feet as they arrive at the guild that morning. A good number of their fellow members had already arrived but it was still a small number compared to the guild overall roster.

The two of them were in their own little world raking their minds over the dreams that had this morning, wondering if there was any significant meaning to them. So engross were they that neither one notice the other until their brush against one another as they were reaching for the door. The duo lazily turns their heads toward one another and instantly jump back.

"Romeo!"

"Cana!"

….

…..

…

Silence follows in their wake.

"Soooo, how's it going?", Romeo asks, breaking the silence.

"Good, good. Just having a good day", Cana answers, though in a hesitating tone, "How about you?"

"Oh I'm good, I'm real good", Romeo replies as the two now stood there in awkward silence looking around at their surroundings and everywhere but in the direction of the person in front of them.

"Looks like it might rain today", Cana commented.

"Yeah, it could", Romeo answered before coughing.

….

…..

…

More silence.

"So should we go inside?", Cana asks.

"Oh yeah, yeah. Please after you", Romeo insisted.

"No, no, after you", Cana responded.

"Ladies first", Romeo said.

"Well, since you insisted", Cana said as Romeo open the door for her.

The two of them walk into the guild hall, looking straight ahead and nowhere else. They take a seat at the tavern but put at least three empty seats between themselves. They sat their quietly, simply minding their own business while Kinana was behind it getting everything set up for the day.

" _What is wrong with me? I'm acting like some sappy pre-teen girl who just developed her first crush!",_ Cana internally ranted, " _I'm a full-grown woman!"_

" _Get it together Romeo! It_ _was just a dream, nothing more!",_ Romeo thinks.

Suddenly a shout rings out that shakes them both out of their internal rants.

"Someone get me some beer!", Wakaba screams as he comes through the doors with Macao in tow, "The wife kicked me out of the house this morning and I feel like getting dead drunk! I'm willing to go nine rounds of hard drinking with nothing but full barrels!"

" _ **Nine rounds."**_

" _ **Nine rounds."**_

" _ **Nine rounds."**_

Those two words echo through Romeo's and Cana's minds as the two slowly turn their head to each other.

From Romeo's points of view, Cana was sitting at the table stool wearing nothing but one of his vests and those same lacy panties he saw in the dream. She had one hand slowly trailing down the middle of her open chest while the other one was used to softly squeeze her breast.

"Oh Romeo", she says in a voice as sweet as honey, "We're all out of toothpaste. Guess I'll have to clean my mouth….with your tongue."

From Cana's point of view, Romeo was sitting there in the same naked apron he had on in her dream, with a frying pan of bacon in one hand and the other stuffing a piece of said bacon in his mouth.

"Do you want some bacon?", he asks in a seductive tone, "Or did you have a different type of meat in mind that you want in your mouth?"

Kinana's scream rings throughout the building after she witnesses both of the veteran Fairy Tail mages pass out from massive blood-loss via nosebleed.


	3. Chapter 3

**Waking Up**

When Romeo came to he found himself lying in an infirmary bed looking up at a familiar ceiling that he has grown accustomed to over the years. Every time he took on a job that involved a dark guild or a monster, he often ended up here afterward. Nothing life threaten, most of the time, but it just came with the territory of being a Fairy Tail mage.

He closes his eyes and waits for his inevitable meeting with the guild residential healing mage and his first ex, Wendy Marvell.

Soon he hears the door to the medical bay open up and in strolled in the blue-hair Dragon Slayer herself, carrying a box of newly arrived medical supplies. When Porlyusica passed away a few years after the Alvarez invasion Wendy took it upon herself to take up the mantle as Fairy Tail medical adviser. On top of strengthening her healing magic, she collected all of the Potion Mage old medical books and took to studying them. A couple times when they were dating she would bring books with her while they were traveling on jobs or whenever they were hanging out.

He glances over at her as she began to put the supplies away in the medicine cabinets. Over the years, the youngest dragon-slayer grew out as her body finally caught up with her age, (and Romeo meant the seven years she missed because of Tenrou, not the fact that she was over four hundred years old) she now came up to Romeo's chest while Romeo himself was now as tall as Natsu and the others, excluding Guild Master Laxus, Elfman, and Gildarts. Her twin ponytails came just past her shoulders and she finally ditch the sundresses that everyone was used to seeing her in back in the day, as she was now usually seen wearing blue jeans pants along with light green t-shirt, that was showed off just enough skin to get guys attention but modest enough to make her fellow dragon-slayers not go all protective mode on her.

To which they had good reason to seeing how now Wendy finally filled out in all areas of her body. She wasn't filled out like Lucy or Juvia, but more on the level of between Levi and Lisanna, if not maybe Mira.

While watching her Romeo thoughts drifted back to their first official date which took place a few months after the war….

**Flashback**

Romeo was literally freaking out right now as he waited outside one of Magnolia parks waiting for his girlfriend so they could go on their first real date. He showed up thirty minutes early, brought along a bunch of breath mints just in case, and even kept a small mirror and a comb in his back pocket, using it to check his hair every thirty seconds.

" _Deep breaths, Romeo. Just remember to take deep breaths",_ he told himself, " _And remember not to do anything your dad told you to do. Instead, take your mom's advice."_

Romeo had to admit that having his mother back in the house after all these years was… awkward, especially when she found out that he was going out on his first date ever. In a effort to get herself back into his life, she literally took care of almost all the preparation for his date, from finding the perfect spots for them to go to even getting Romeo's clothes clean and press, (they decided to dress casually for the date, seeing how they were still on call to help deal with some of the Alvarez forces remnants that were still in the area after the war), and finally giving him real dating advice after hearing the awful crap his father try to give him.

He was broken out of his thoughts by the nagging voice of Carla who was flying next to a embarrass Wendy as they were walking toward him.

"Now I want you back at Fairy Hills by nine tonight."

"Yes, Carla."

"And I want you to stay in a well-lit, public place the whole time."

"Yes, Carla."

"No physical contact beyond holding hands."

"Yes, Carla."

"And if he tries anything funny, do not hesitate to use your Dragon Roar on him."

"Carla!"

"You can't be too careful these days, boys nowadays only have one thing on their minds."

"And what exactly would that be, Carla?", Romeo asks as now all feelings of dread and nervousness were replace with annoyance, "What exactly do I have on my mind?"

Carla merely glares at Romeo before turning to her charge, "Remember, Dragon-Roar if he tries anything", she say before flying away, leaving two awkward teens in her wake.

Silence reign for a couple seconds between the two before Romeo finally decided to speak, "So want to go get some sundaes at the diner down the street. I hear they finally got it repaired."

Wendy smiles at notion and nods.

Romeo's face lights up with a smile and he extends his arm in a chivalrous manner, "Milady."

Wendy giggles and loops her arm around Romeo and the two take off down the sidewalk. The young couple barely got half a block before Wendy suddenly started sniffing the air.

"Umm, Wendy?", Romeo asks, his facial expression deep in confusion, "You okay there?"

Wendy continues to sniff around a little bit more before dawning a look that seemed to be a mix between disappointment, annoyance, and anger.

"You okay there?", Romeo asks again.

"Romeo, I'm so sorry", Wendy finally said.

"Sorry about what?"

"For ruining our first date", Wendy confess.

"What are you talking about?", Romeo wonders.

"I really thought after the war everyone at the guild would have mature a little bit, but...", she says as she points down the road behind them. Romeo turns around and saw the entire Fairy Tail guild, along with Sting, Rouge, Chelia, and even Cobra all watching them from behind trees, lampposts, benches, and even nearby bushes. He even saw his mom and dad stalking him alongside a starry-eyed Mirajane.

"Why does it feel like that we're the most mature people at the guild hall, Romeo?", Wendy whined.

**End of Flashback**

"Romeo? Oh Romeo?", the Rainbow Fire mage hears his name call over and over again and his mind comes back to the present. He finds himself looking up into the Wendy's brown eyes as the girl was now standing next to the medical bed looking down at him, "You okay there?"

Romeo actually chuckle at the way she asks him that, " _Just like me on our first date, I guess she did pick up some habits from me",_ as he sits up and swings his legs over the side.

"Yeah, I'm fine, no need to worry yourself", Romeo assure her as he moves to get up only to be stop by Wendy lightly putting a hand on his shoulder. It wasn't the notion itself that stop him, it was more of the strength of it seeing that Wendy was physically the stronger one between the two of them. She wasn't even trying and yet Romeo couldn't budge her.

Finally, Romeo lets out a sign in defeat, "Is there something wrong?"

"When I came in this morning, I found both you and Cana pass out on the floor with large amounts of blood all over the place", Wendy explain.

"Is Cana okay?", Romeo asks, mostly out of concern for his fellow guild member.

"She's doing fine. She's in the second medical room with Mira, Lucy, and Levy", Wendy told him causing Romeo to involuntarily shiver.

" _Why do I have the feeling something bad going to come out of that?",_ Romeo thought.

"Moving on, from what I was told, the two of you look at one another and then suddenly starting gushing blood from your noses", Wendy said as her angelic face suddenly takes a more serious expression, "And I think I know what cause it."

Romeo suddenly felt a powerful aura engulf him as he could literally feel the might of the Sky Dragon-Slayer bearing down on him. It took everything he had not to collapse from the sheer pressure Wendy was giving off.

"Romeo", she said in a powerful, yet emotionless voice and the fire mage prepare for the worse.

" _Is this what the dream was about? How not everyone was going to approve of me having a relationship with Cana, if I pursue one?"_

Within a instant the aura vanish and Wendy's seriousness was replace with a sadden one as she look up at Romeo with tears in her eyes, "Romeo, have you develop a pervert side like your father?"

Romeo's brain crash upon the girl finishing that sentence. It had to reboot itself while the rest of the boy's body just stood there, frozen in place while waiting for the process to end.

"Wait what?", was Romeo only response when he regain his full senses.

"Your father gets nosebleeds whenever he's thinking of something pervert and I'm afraid that it may be genetic and that it has finally shown up in you!", Wendy fret, "Me and the rest of the girl were always worry that you might grow up and take on your father's habits! But then we thought that since Enno came back into your life that she would counter Macao's influence and that you grow up to be a respectable young man!"

"Wait what?", Romeo said once again, unable to believe what he was hearing, especially on what the girls thought of him.

"But I see now that her presence was not enough to counter Macao and now you're starting to become like him!", Wendy said as she struck a dramatic pose with the back of her hand on her forehead.

" _She really needs to stop going out on jobs with Juvia by herself, she is starting to pick up some of her quirks",_ Romeo thought.

"Don't worry, Romeo!", Wendy suddenly cried, "Despite our past relationship I am still your friend and fellow guild member until the end! I'll be there for you even if the rest of the girls don't want to be around you due to fear of them being leer at by you, just as long as you don't leer at me!"

" _She should also stop borrowing romantic novels from Erza",_ Romeo told himself, "Listen Wendy, there is nothing wrong with me."

Wendy stops her melodramatic performance and trains her eyes on Romeo, "You're not?"

"No"

"Then why did you have a massive nosebleed?", Wendy ask causing Romeo to look away from her, face red in embarrassment.

" _Do I tell her the truth? Do I tell her that I had a not-so-innocent dream of Cana and that the mere sight of her brought it back full-blown?",_ Romeo thought.

"Romeo?", Wendy said, "Are you alright? Do you have a fever?"

"Wendy", Romeo began, hoping he could divert Wendy's attention and change the subject, "Maybe you can help me. You see a friend of mine finds himself in an….awkward situation."

"Oh? What kind of situation?", she asks and inner Romeo jump for joy for succeeding in his diversion plan.

"Well you see, there is this girl who as of very recently he has been having weird feelings about, even though they have known each other pretty much ever since he was born?", Romeo tries to explain to which Wendy gasps.

"Oh my Mavis, Romeo! You're getting back together with Lindsay!", she yelled as she jump up and down with joy, "I knew you two would work things out!"

" _Well there goes me being anonymous",_ Romeo thinks, "No Wendy, I am not getting back with Lindsay, we're just friends!"

"Really?"

"Yes!"

"Then Beth?"

"No!"

"Oh, it's Chelia!"

"HELL NO!", Romeo roared while doing his best to fight down those terrible memories of his past with Sky God-Slayer.

"Oh, then I sorry Romeo, But I only see you as a friend now, sorry to disappoint you", Wendy tells him.

"She is not an ex-girlfriend!", Romeo booms.

"Okay then", Wendy says, unfazed by Romeo's outburst, " Then what can you tell me about her?"

Romeo had to think for a moment, trying to sum up Cana without it sounding like Cana, "Well she been a part of Fairy Tail practically her whole life."

"Okay", Wendy nods.

"She has family within the guild as well."

"I see, I see", Wendy says while stroking her chin.

"She's energetic, full of life, and always the life of the party", Romeo says as a smile comes to his face.

"Do go on", Wendy added.

"But I fear that one of the major problems of us possibly starting a relationship, if I decide to start one with her, I'm not saying I am, is that there's an age gap between the two of us", Romeo finally says and notices Wendy's eyes go wide and her mouth drops open.

"Oh my Mavis", Wendy says once more, "Romeo, could you possibly be talking about….?"

Romeo steel himself for Wendy's answer.

"Could you possibly be talking about Asuka? Romeo, I know your love life hasn't been doing great lately, but you can't possibly be thinking about going after Asuka, can you?", Wendy asks as she violently shook Romeo back and forth, "She just turned thirteen, she doesn't know what love is! Society wouldn't understand!"

**Thump!**

**Thump!**

**Thump!**

Wendy could only watch in confusion as Romeo repeatedly bang his head against the wall, hoping that he could knock himself unconscious for it would make his day go by so much easier.

**Second Medical Room**

Cana's eyes flutter open and she stares up at the ceiling of the medical room of the guild hall, "Great, I'm here again and I didn't even drink this morning."

"Thank Mavis for small miracles", she hears off to the side of her and she turns her head to see Lucy, Levy, and Mira all sitting there watching her.

"How are you feeling?", Levy asks.

"Like I got in a fight with a cake-deprave Erza", Cana admits as she sat up, "But I'll be fine."

"Good", Mira said with a creepy smile that made Cana's blood run cold appears on her face, "Because we have some things we would like to discuss with you."

"W-what would that be?", Cana stutters as she scoots as far away for the residential devil as she can only to discover that Lucy and Levy somehow moved to the other side without her noticing and were now blocking her escape routes.

"So Cana, mind explaining to us what happen this morning?", Lucy ask/interrogated Cana, "You know, the whole nose-bleeding incident?"

"Nothing", was Cana only response.

"Spraying two pints of blood all over the tavern that I work hard every day to keep clean is not my idea of nothing", Mira growled as her persona was briefly replace by her demon form before reverting back to normal, "So why don't you tell us what's going on?"

Cana froze as all three pairs of eyes stare at her.

"Does it involve a guy?", Levy asks, causing Cana's eyes to bulge out of her head.

"Huh?"

"Cana, everyone knows that you broke up with Daniel recently", Lucy began, "If you're having problems in your love life, we're always here to help."

"Oh yes, we're definitely here to  **help** ", Mira stated with stars in her eyes.

As Cana slightly shifted away from Mira and toward the two saner girls she couldn't help but wonder, " _Can I tell them about this? How would they feel about me having these strange thoughts about Romeo?"_

Cana ran the thoughts in her head for a moment before reaching a conclusion.

"Well, recently I have been having problems with a guy", Cana confesses, "I kind of ran into him at the bar last night after Daniel dump me and now I been having weird feelings about him."

"I KNEW IT!", all three girls scream at once causing Cana to cover her ears in a vain effort to protect them, "You have to tell us everything! What is he like? What is his job? Is he someone we know?"

" _Oh, you definitely know him",_ Cana thought, "Well, he is a member of the guild."

"Oooo, close working relationship! Enticing!", Mira gush.

"What else is there to him?", Levy wondered, "Come on, tell us!"

"He has been part of the guild for quite a while now, even before we disappear at Tenrou ", Cana went on.

"So you have known about him for quite a while?", Lucy said.

"And he has had problems with relationships in the past", Cana explain.

"So both of you are coming off of a rocky bump in your love lives and hope to use one another to mend your broken hearts!", Mira said as she held a hand to her chest and stretch out the other one, "How romantic!"

" _She really needs to stop going out on jobs alone with Juvia and also stop borrowing romantic novels from Erza, she's getting as bad as Wendy",_ Cana thought, "But the only problem that may possibly be in my way of starting a relationship with him, if I decide to start something, I'm not saying I'm going to, is the fact that there is an age gap between the two of us."

All three girls' eyes widen in surprise as they look at one another then by at Cana.

"Oh!" Mira started.

"My!", Levy continued.

"Mavis!", Lucy finished.

"You guys okay?", Cana asks while slightly fearing for her life for some reason.

"You're talking about Reedus!", they all shouted simultaneously.

At that moment Cana started to question the actual intelligence of her friends, "What?!"

"It's okay, Cana!", Lucy cried as she engulfs Cana into a bearhug, "There's nothing wrong with you dating someone who's forty years old! Love knows no boundaries!"

"That's right!", Levy joined in, "We'll support you no matter what in your endeavor!"

"To think it be the quiet and shy painter that would smooth your wild soul", Mira wailed as she gets in on the group hug, "I so proud of you! Reedus would no doubt treat you right!"

Cana, using strength she obviously inherited from her father, throws all the girls off her, gets out of the medical bed, and walks over to a nearby wall.

**Thump!**

**Thump!**

**Thump!**

She then proceeds to bang her head against the wood, just like her partner in crime in the other room was doing in an effort to knock herself out. She had enough of today.

As they both continue their routine in front of their baffle friends, only one thought came to both of their minds….

" _Is it really that unthinkable for the guild to see me and Romeo/Cana as more than just friends? Is this what my dream was trying to tell me?"_


	4. Chapter 4

**Talking It Out**

Lucy and Levy sat there flabbergasted at what they just heard from Cana. The two friends were opening and closing their mouths at different intervals as though they were goldfish swimming about. Lucy raises her hand and makes an attempt to speak, only to stop herself before the first syllable even came out. Levy then try to give it a shot but alas, she failed as well. Regardless, both of them were doing much better then Mira was, who only sat there in wide-eyed surprise.

Their minds have simply failed to comprehend what they just heard.

Eventually, Lucy was able to form complete sentences and gave it a go…

"Let me get this straight", as she points at Cana, "Romeo, Macao's son, the boy who was six years old the day I joined Fairy Tail, told you last night that he used to have a crush on you, am I right?"

Cana lets out a breath in annoyance as she shakes her hair in frustration, "Yes."

"The same boy who this morning who you had a dream about cooking in your kitchen in nothing more than a naked apron and a smile while telling you that the two of you had been married for at least four months", Levy, who finally came to, added.

"Let's emphasize the dream part, please?", Cana almost begged, "Romeo in a naked apron cooking breakfast in my kitchen happen in a dream."

"And the reason you pass out was that you were reminded of how many rounds you two did the nasty in your dream while he just so happens to be next to you", Lucy concluded while sparing a glance at a still surprised Mira, " _She hasn't said a word this whole time?"_

Cana shoots Lucy an incredulous look,  _"_ Wow, did the nasty? That's the best you could come up with, Lucy? I mean, how many times has someone caught you and Natsu in the storeroom going at it like-"

"THIS ISN'T ABOUT ME, IT'S ABOUT YOU!", Lucy blasts back while her face glows bright red to which Cana chuckles.

"Okay, okay, back to me it is then", she said as she held her hands up defeat.

"So let's get to the root of this; when exactly did Romeo say he had a thing for you? Maybe it could point to what exactly he sees in you", Levy ask only to receive a blank stare back from Cana, "You didn't ask him?"

"Not exactly a question that usually comes up in normal conversation, now is it?", Cana answers.

"Having sexual dreams about a boy who you have known since he was in diapers isn't exactly normal either, now is it?", Mira suddenly spoke up causing everyone to snap their neck toward her.

"Oh, I'm sorry, did I say that out loud?", Mira asks as she scratches the back of her head, "Silly me. Oh, I think I hear Kinana calling for me, I best go give her a hand at the tavern", as she excuses herself leaving three baffled S-class mages in her wake. It was a good minute of eerie silence after Mira close the door to the infirmary that Cana finally spoke up...

"Okay, what the hell just happen just now?"

**Romeo and Wendy**

Wendy has experienced many things since she came to Fairy Tail all toward years ago. Anger, pride, sorrow, and even annoyance (sometimes because of Natsu, loved him like a brother she did, but mostly just certain members of the guild in general), but the feeling in her gut right now was something she has never felt before in her life and she couldn't understand why.

"Cana was wearing nothing more than her panties and one of your vest?", she asks a few moments after Romeo explain what happen this morning.

"Just a reminder: in a dream. Cana was only wearing panties and one of my vests in a dream", Romeo stated.

"I got the dream part down, but I'm still trying to get over the fact that you willing admitted to Cana that you use to have a crush on her", Wendy began, "I mean, what brought that about?"

"Well, she assumed that you were my first crush", Romeo shrugged as Wendy covers her mouth in a fail attempt to stifle a laugh.

"Wow, anyone who was paying attention back then could have seen that you only thought of me as an older sister", Wendy pointed out as she sat down on the medical bed next to Romeo.

"Too bad not a lot of people were paying attention to me back then", Romeo admitted as he stood up, "So that was the reason I passed out this morning."

"Wakaba's comment made you think about the nine rounds of vigorous, sensual, and mind-blowing sex you guys apparently had in your dream", Wendy nonchalantly stated only to receive a wide-eyed expression from a slack jaw Romeo, "What?"

"I-It's just so weird to hear you talk like that", Romeo says. This causes Wendy to let out a low growl which in turn causes Romeo to jump away from her.

"Don't you go acting like that too", she grunts and Romeo notices her hand grip around the metal bed frame next to her and actually crush it, "I may still be a maiden, but I'm not naive! I don't know why people fail to realize that. For Mavis' sake, I'm the third strongest female mage here behind Mira and Erza raw strength wise and the second best female mage in hand-to-to hand after Mira! For Mavis' sake, Romeo, you were there that day the event-that-we-will-never- fully-remembered-or-speak-of-again-or-else-we-will-be-scarred-for-life happen!"

"Okay, okay Wendy, let's take deep breaths. Let's mellow out before we cause property damage to the guild hall and piss off Laxus, a prospect neither one of us want to deal with", Romeo said in a calming though shaking voice as he attempts to defuse the situation. He was more aware than most of how sensitive a subject it was to Wendy that everyone still thought of her as the same naive little girl who came to Fairy Tail that day all those years ago.

Wendy inhales deep and blows out gently (though Romeo swore he saw the cupboards across the way from her rattle a bit), "You're right. The last thing anyone needs to do right now is to make Laxus angry. Natsu and Gajeel do that enough as it is."

"They certainly do, now if you'll excuse me, the tavern is calling me and I need a drink", Romeo says as he makes his way toward the door, "Catch you later, Wendy."

"Have a good day, Romeo", Wendy said as Romeo went through the door, closing it behind him and leaving her alone with her thoughts.

"Cana, huh? Didn't see that coming", she whispers to herself before getting up and organizing the medical supplies into their respective cupboards, "Though I wonder why Cana pass out to."

**Out in the Main Hall**

"You know, when you stop and think about it, he's great boyfriend material", Lucy pointed out as she, Cana, and Levy observe the Rainbow Fire Mage from across the room while he was at the bar getting serve by Kinana.

"Yeah, I guess he is", Levy added as she stroke her chin, "Strong, brave, respectful, mature, and smart. Any girl would be lucky to have him."

"And don't forget handsome", Lucy laughed, "I have to say, if it would have been the Romeo now that I met all those years ago in Haragon, I probably wouldn't have given Natsu a second thought."

"Yeah, if Romeo somehow went back in time to when we were all his age, who knows what would have happened?", Levy wondered.  **(A/N: Sounds like a story plot when you think about.)**

Both girls giggle at the joke knowing full well that they wouldn't leave their Dragon-Slayers for the world, but Card Mage was not amuse one bit by their antics.

"I can't believe you two are having this conversation right now", Cana grumbled as she took a gulp out of her beer, "This is Romeo we're talking about here."

Lucy turns her attention to Cana, "Yeah, so?"

"Yeah, what about it?", Levy jump in.

"He's is over a decade younger than me!", Cana gripes, "He wasn't even old enough to stay up past eight while I was out getting hammer till three or four in the morning before Tenrou happen! I don't see one good reason why I should approach him!"

"He's nineteen now. He's a grown man with his own place", Lucy mentioned as she held up two fingers, "He's a strong candidate for the S-Class examination this year. He has mastered an extremely hard magic that consists of multiple fire types. He's well-known across Fiore and even beyond as the youngest person who actively fought in the Alvarez invasion, and he's a man who puts his family and friends' needs above his own."

"That's six good reasons right there", Levy said.

"He's twelve years younger than me", Cana started up with her own fingers, "We have known each other since he was baby. He has already gone through four break-ups with four different girls. His self-esteem is probably not that great due to constantly being compared to mages who were already S-Class by the time they were his age, if not younger. It has been mention from multiple sources, some of them medical experts, that fighting in the Alvarez war at such a young age has mildly traumatized him and it has been mention that sometimes he wakes up screaming at night by a number of people who have done overnight jobs with him. And let's not forget that he more than likely knows that I used to have a thing for his old man back in the day."

"Okay, Porlyusica said before she passed away, gods rest her soul, that he was getting over his war experiences and that his nightmares will lessen over time. So you can't used that as an excuse", Lucy countered.

"Lindsay and Wendy have known him since he was a kid and that didn't stop them from at least trying to date him", Levy added.

"He has come to terms with the fact that he still has a long way to go to catch up with Natsu and them and he considers it a challenge that he will someday overcome."

"He's still on good terms with at least three of his ex-girlfriends and you can't talk because you have gone through three break-ups yourself and the only one you still talk to is Laxus."

"What you had for Macao back then was nothing more than an unrequited crush and everyone knows that you have gotten over it."

"And honestly, age is just a number when you stop and think about it", Levy says, "I mean, Gajeel and Natsu are older than me and Lucy by over four centuries."

"No way I'm letting you use that logic, time travel was involved", Cana points out.

"What we are trying to say Cana is what does it matter if you're older than him, you should at least give it a chance if he's willing", Lucy explains, "You never know, Romeo might make you happy."

"And what am I suppose to do, go up to him and say "Hey Romeo, wanna fuck?", Cana blurts out.

Levy shakes her, "Alright, now you're just being pessimistic. How about you go out on a job with him? It's simple, you'll make drinking money, and it's something you two have done before together."

"You think it's that easy, huh?", Cana grumbles.

"It couldn't hurt to try. Do you really want to spend the rest of your life thinking about what could have been?", Lucy asks her friend, "Besides, it just a job we're asking you to go on with him."

Cana regards both Lucy and Levy with a thoughtful expression before finally throwing her hands up in defeat, "A job, one job and we'll see how it goes from there. If it doesn't go smoothly, we'll put this whole thing behind us and Romeo and I go back to being nothing more than friends and fellow guild members."

"Deal", the girls agree as Cana get up and stomps her way over to the job board, everyone in her path instantly clearing out due to the negative, almost hostile, aura she was generating.

**At the Tavern**

The full mug of beer slowly slip out of Romeo's hand and collided with the floor with a resounding bang, spilling its contents everywhere. He didn't hear the people next to him yell in surprise nor did he hear Kinana's foul-mouth rant afterward (she has obviously been taking after Cobra). All of his senses and focus were directed at the bikini top, tight jeans, wearing Card Mage standing in front of him with her arms cross and an almost threatening scowl on her face.

"Um, I'm sorry, Cana, what did you just say?", he manages to get out.

"Do you want to go out on a job with me?", Cana asks again, "You know, a job request."

"Oh! You ask if I wanted to do a job with you!", Romeo laughed as he wipes the sweat from his brow, "You surprise me there for a moment, Cana."

Cana raises an eyebrow at this, "What did you think I said?"

"I thought you said if I wanted a-", Romeo started before stopping himself. Right before Cana came up to him, Romeo found his mind so far in the gutter that he was smelling shit. That dream last night has definitely been screwing with his train of thought and for the briefest of moments, he thought Cana was offering him a job that involve her mouth...

Or her hands…

Or her feet….

Or her hair….

Or her chest…

Or her butt…

Or her armpits…

Or her-

Look, the point is that he is a healthy young man with an extremely active imagination who happen to have to stumble across his father old dirty magazines at a young age and who happens to be part of a guild whose members aren't as secretive with their sexual adventures as they like to think they are. He has stopped counting how many times he comes across Natsu and Lucy in the storage room doing the nasty and that's just the mild stuff.

He has had the misfortune of walking in on Happy and Carla doing the horizontal tango.

Yeah, you heard right, Happy and Carla, the talking, flying, cats of Fairy Tail (who, believe it or not, just so happen to be around the same age as him); going at it in the infirmary on one of the beds. Worse of all, they were switching in and out between their Exceeds forms and their human-catlike forms the whole time.

He was helping Wendy moves some supplies there (this was after their break-up and sometime before he started dating Beth). Needless to say, both he and Wendy were instantly floor by the sight they witness and went screaming out of the guild hall, (later on, there was also an immeasurable amount of alcohol consumed along with an equal amount of throwing up involved, more on Wendy's part than Romeo). Not only did Wendy beg him, (in tears) to burn the bed afterward (she then had Natsu burn the ashes somehow), but she had to stay at Bisca and Alzack for at least two months until she had calm down enough to look Carla in the eyes.

But, of course, that was nothing compared to the time that Romeo went over to Levy and Gajeel place to borrow a book and happen upon Pantherlily having a good ole time with Queen Shagotte. It's only because he swore (at sword point) that he wouldn't tell a soul that Carla is still obvious to one of the reasons why her mother visits her so much now.

It also didn't help Romeo that he walk in on them while Lily was in his battle form. Good gods, Romeo almost went to Mest to have the man erase it from his memory.

Anyway, back to the matter at hand.

"I thought you said something about a…paint job?", Romeo lied.

Cana only stares back at him and Romeo feels sweat starting to appear on his brow again under her gaze.

"Whatever, let's go," Cana says as she grabs him by his vest and pulls him behind her as they head for the door all the while trying to ignore the thumbs-up that Lucy and Levy were giving her from their table.

But what all parties involved fail to notice was the unreadable look that Romeo and Cana were receiving from Mira from her place on the second floor. The eldest Strauss sibling had just got done having an enlighting conversation with Wendy about Macao's son and if her gut feeling was anything to go off of, things were about to get hectic here at Fairy Tail.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> About the event-that-we-will-never- fully-remembered-or-speak-of-again-or-else-we-will-be-scarred-for-life, it was When Wendy and Romeo walked in on Happy and Carla. It was worse for Wendy because of her relationship with Carla. It was only slightly less worse for Romeo.


End file.
